Category: fatloss

A lot of men and women are close to their ideal weight. They may only have 2-6 kg or so to lose, but it just won’t budge. Is this you?

There are many reasons why this may be. It could be that the program you’re following is not right for you, or that you’re not following it as carefully as you think you are.

Other reasons include:

You have high cortisol levels

High levels of the stress hormone cortisol will absolutely stop fat loss in its tracks. If you wake up thinking of everything you have to do or you are racing from one appointment to another, chances are, you have higher than optimal cortisol levels.

Do you need coffee to function well? Do you race around after your kids, race to get to work, race to get tea and other things organised? Chronically high cortisol levels increase appetite, increase cravings for sugar and fat and increase fat storage. Find a way to switch off every day and get yourself organised.

You’re eating too much fat or other healthy foods

While I”m all for the Paleo style diet, you have to remember that just because its healthy, doesnt mean you can eat unlimited amounts of it. Foods such as nuts, coconut products, meats, eggs and seeds, while super, super healthy and extremely good for you, are all high calorie foods that need to be eaten in suitable amounts or they will cause you to gain weight and/or stop fat loss.

The overeating of these types of foods is becoming a massive contributor to stalled fat loss programs and even weight gain.

You’re not eating enough vegetables

Eating enough vegetables has many great benefits, all of which will contribute to fat loss or lack of fat storgae

Providing satiety (they make you feel full) is one benefit as is an increase in fibre intake

Lots of nutrients. The more nutrients you can get into your body, the healthier it will be in all ways. You’re also less likely to have cravings if you eat more vegetables, simply because you feel fuller and you’re providing your body with the nutrients it requires.

Some vegetables such as those from the Brassicaceae family (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, boc choy, etc) also help with oestrogen balance in your bodyimages

Your have an oestrogen imbalance

Many women, especially those of childbearing age or older, have an oestrogen dominance problem. Some causes of oestrogen dominance are; exercising too much, pesticides and plastics, soaps and other personal products and some of the chemicals they contain and even things such as carpet and furniture and the chemicals they expose us to. Diet plays a big part in controlling oestrogen dominance with one simple thing listed in the item above.

You don’t get enough sunlight on your exposed skin

Vitamin D acts like a hormone in our bodies and levels have been recorded as lower than ever, most likely due to the overuse of sunscreens and other habits employed to reduce sun exposure.

Low levels of Vitamin D have been associated with allergies, fatigue, cancer and yes, fat gain. You can supplement, but its not advised without the advice of your healthcare provider who should test your levels first. An easier way to ensure healthy levels is to expose your skin for a short time each day to direct sunlight. I’d avoid your face and neck though, don’t want to risk more wrinkles!! Remember, just a short exposure each day to your arms, legs and/or torso should do the trick. Try training outside for a double whammy of benefits.

You’re not getting enough sleep and/or good quality sleep

This is perhaps one of the most important but most neglected points. That is, lack of good quality sleep. In order for the hormones leptin and ghrelin to remain in balance, you absolutely must be getting enough good quality sleep. In simple terms, leptin tells us we are full and ghrelin tells us to eat.

Guess what! Lack of sleep causes a rise in ghrelin, meaning cravings and hunger and a drop in leptin.

Sort this out guys. Get the best quality sleep you can and aim for 7-8 hours a night. Any less, and you’re fighting an uphill battle.

So how did you fare? Got all this sorted? What could you improve that could make all the difference?

These are just some of the things that could be reasons why you’re not losing the body fat you think you should be.

Comment with the things you struggle with and email me if you need further information or help with any one of them

There are lots of times when you just don’t have time to prepare a meal or snack at the time you need to eat it. Heck, it happens most days to most of us; hectic mornings, no break at work, busy evening, you’re out and about, you planned to cook but something came up, packed lunches and packed snacks required are just some

Some of the most common reasons I hear from people not eating a healthy meal or snack at any given time are; I wasn’t organised, I was out and nothing was available, I didn’t have time to cook.

The following are some ideas for simple meals and snacks that are FitterFaster ‘compliant’. For exact quantities, check the FitterFaster Food Charts and/or your individual menu plan

NO COOKING REQUIRED – Can be prepared ahead, even the night before and kept in containers. Portable and easy to carry and eat anywhere:

Greek yoghurt, fresh or frozen berries and almonds

Low Fat cottage cheese, fresh or frozen berries and walnuts

Greek yoghurt with garlic mixed in and veggie sticks. Add a fat serve if required in that meal in the form of 1/3-1/2 avocado mixed in.

Low Fat Cottage Cheese, Moroccan spice mix and veggies sticks to dip. Add in fats if required in the form of walnuts mixed in or even a scoop of the FitterFaster Seed Mix – see recipe book

PRE COOKING REQUIRED – Serving sizes generally refer to ‘1 protein serve’ as per the FitterFaster Food Charts. Low energy carbs do not need to be measured and if hte recipe contains High Energy Carbs and/or Fats, the serving size of those is also noted.

BREAKFAST (OR ANY TIME) MUFFINS

2 muffins = 1 protein serve

Add fats or high energy carbs if needed in your meal as per your individual FitterFaster Nutrition Program

6 eggs

4 slices of short cut bacon diced

1 finely chopped onion

Approx 1 cup (or bit less) of chopped capsicum

Add your favourite herbs or spices, or not if you prefer

Mix everything together and season lightly with fresh black pepper.

Place into 6 large, greased muffin tins and cook for approx 15 mins at 180degrees.

Remove from the oven and let them cool slightly before removing them from the tins.

These are yummy warm or cold and are so easy to pack as a lunch, snack or to have for breakfast when you don’t have time to cook eggs in the morning.

Experiment with your own flavourings and veggie additives.

FISH CAKES

These are also very portable. Make a yum breakfast, lunch, snack or tea on the run.

Add everything else and mix well. Its best to do this with your hands. I use rubber gloves and wash them while I’m still wearing them.

Form into 10-12 patties and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Pop them in the fridge for 30 minutes or more. This will help them stick together when cooking

You can either fry these in a little coconut oil, or bake them in the oven straight on the tray. If frying, do them in a couple of batches to keep your fry pan nice and hot.

Eat hot or cold.

If taking to work, simply make a quick salad and add 2 fish cakes per serve. Experiment with the spices.

PANCAKES

Yep, pancakes are portable. I have a version that I make the night before basketball tournaments and take with me to snack on at games. Add a piece of fruit and I’m set. They contain high energy carbs, but these ones are more user friendly for any time of day.

1/2 of this entire recipe = 1 serve

Add optional extra low energy carbs.

Fats are already included in the form of the extra coconut oil but you could chuck in a few walnuts before cooking if you liked.

When eating at home, you could add a scoop of greek yoghurt and some fresh berries on top!!

4 eggs

2 tbsp coconut flour

2 tbls coconut oil melted

1/2 – 1 banana (I know this is high energy, but its only 1/4-1/2 banana per serve)

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (heck, I usually add a bit extra, I love cinnamon)

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Approx 3.4 cup of mashed pumpkin or sweet potato ( I do this quickly in the microwave)

MIx everything together well. Let sit for 10 minutes or so before cooking

Cook over a medium heat in coconut oil in batches. the size is up to you.

Just remember that 1/2 of this whole batch is one serve.

Because turning them can be a bit difficult (they’re heavier than normal pancakes) dont make them too big. Make sure they’re cooked properly on one side before flipping. A minute on the 2nd side is usually enough.

Don’t overcook as I find that the spices burn quite easily and it ruins the taste

Pack these for a total ‘on the go’ snack or meal. Contains everything you need including fats

SOUPS

Soups are a fantastic ‘prepare ahead’ food that are easy to take to work and/or quickly reheat any time of day. Add a protein source to most soups and healthy ones are usually veggies based. Check the FitterFaster Recipe Book for lots of quick, easy and deliciously healthy soups.

Check out this past post on being organised ahead of time and also the Recipes page for some portable ‘sweet’ foods. You’ll find the link above for other recipes.

I just wanted to do a short post on body image, body hate and the pursuit of the perfect body.

Firstly, I believe that there is absolutely nothing wrong with trying to be better. Without a goal or somewhere to aim, we are just spinning the wheels.

A totally realistic goal for most people is to lose 5kg, heck, a hell of a lot of people (may I even suggest ‘most’ people here as well) could stand to lose 10kg in the name of better HEALTH.

But how many times have you promised yourself “this year I’m going to lose 10kg” or “this year/month I’m going to get down to a size 12” or whatever your goal has been?

And how much has the amount increased or how much further away is that elusive size 12 getting over the years??

So okay, we all agree that we can aim to be better, BUT in the meantime, we’ve got to stop hating ourselves!!

We’ve got to stop beating ourselves up because we don’t look like the photo shopped models and celebrities in magazines and on TV. Hell, most of us are never going to look like those people even in real life when they’re not photo-shopped.

But that’s okay 🙂

We are still okay. While it is okay to want to be better, its not okay to hate your body or hate yourself because of how you look. Honestly, those models and celebrities mentioned above most likely don’t like their bodies either. Nobody is satisfied with how they look. Well, okay, there are probably some, but those people you admire, that you think have EVERYTHING because of how their body looks.

They are just like you, there is always something they’d like to change. My thighs are too big, or my arms are flabby. My butt is flat, my tummy is too large, my ‘everything’ wobbles.

So I’ll repeat, there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be better. Making progress is a great way to increase your happiness and satisfaction. Just think about it. Losing 1cm or decreasing your 3km run time by 15sec. Its all progress and that’s what its all about.

We have to stop hating ourselves and telling ourselves how HOPELESS we are because we mucked up our plan.

We have to stop giving up because we failed. The road to being better is full of potholes. But when you stumble, you must get up and keep going. You only fail when you give up.

Make progress!! Aim to be better, not because you’re BAD, but because progress is the key to feeling better, being happier and getting better.

Decide what you want (remember small steps to achieve progress)

It could be to be able to complete an entire FitForce session, in MetCon week with a 12kg kettle bell

It could be to attend 3+ session every week for the next 10 weeks

It could be to eat healthy foods every day and only have ‘treats’ on 2 days per week

It could be to eat a healthy breakfast every day

It could be to be able to run 3km in less than 20 minutes

You don’t have to hate yourself, but its okay to want to be better

What are you capable of??

To give you an idea, a some of my goals for Jan-March this year are:

Improve my run speed. I will do this by not just ‘going for a run’ all the time, but by focusing on run workouts that will increase my speed instead of low intensity runs all the time

Keep on top of aches and pains by visiting the chiropractor and/or having a massage at least monthly

Get body fat back below 20% by eating enough protein, drinking enough water and limiting ‘non-daily’ foods to 1-2 times per week.

Improve strength and fitness (I have specific goals that I wont detail here) by prioritising my own training over other ‘stuff’ that I often let creep into my day

Once you work out what you want to achieve, what progress you want to make, then its time to work out how to do that.

If you know about the ‘what’ but you’re stuck on the ‘how’ let me know. I can help you work out a plan to achieve the ‘what’

Yet another year down and boy didn’t 2014 go fast. I had a fantastic year, with family, business and personal goals achieved.

If you’re a regular reader of my blogs and posts, you’ll know that there is nothing I hate more than people wait for a New Year or a new week or a new month or till after ‘X’ to think about making changes to their health, fitness and/or lifestyle. But seeing that a new year has just begun, I’m all for starting NOW.

I’ve already posted some of my personal health and fitness goals for the first 3 months of 2015 in the FitterFaster Private Client group. They include having a regular appointment at the masseur and chiro, drinking a minimum of 3 litres of water every day for the next 90 days(well 89 now), taking a maximum of 6 days off training (my fitness and lifestyle support this, yours may not!), and running 300km as well as doing more other fitness training such as my own FitForce and PeakFit sessions.

Another goal I have is to slightly change the focus of FitterFaster. I’ve been heading this way for some time now, but I really want to focus on improving my clients’ overall lifestyle and health as well as their body composition.

Those already in attendance or who have taken part in any of my programs know that this is a huge factor in all my packages/programs already, but I want to ‘put it out there’ so to speak a lot more.

healthy is the new skinny

I want to focus on overall fitness, improved health and wellbeing, all the while showing people how achieving these factors will results in a healthy weight as well.

There are too many programs that focus on the short term weight loss factor. Their intention is only ever losing X amount of weight as quickly as possible. I want to show people how improving your lifestyle habits will results not just in fat loss, but in improved wellbeing – more energy, better sleep, less disease, less illness and just overall a better quality life.

So I want everyone, especially my clients to stop judging their every success on the number of the scales.

Instead, start to focus on how your fitness, strength and endurance are improving.

Focus on how much better your skin looks and how much more energy you have.

Notice how you are not bloated anymore and how your ‘gut’ has really settled down.

Feel how your clothes fit and look better and how those headaches and other aches and pains are disappearing.

Healthy is the new Skinny.

NO, I’m not promoting being overweight and being happy with that (although that is also a choice YOU could make if you wanted to) but instead, I’m promoting taking the route to a better body that includes healthy habits and food choices so you can enjoy that better looking and feeling body to its full potential.

What could you do on a daily or weekly basis to gain body fat? It’s pretty simple really and most of these things can be done without even thinking about them:

Drink your calories. This is an easy one. Never choose water and instead, drink soft drinks, cordials, fruit juices and even load up on diet drinks. The only way to drink your water if you want to gain body fat, is to choose flavoured varieties.

Skip meals on a regular basis. This is just about guaranteed to get your eating way too much and also will aid you to make bad food choices because you’re so hungry later. Also causes drops in blood sugar which are great for increasing cravings.

Go to bed too late, watch telly in bed or develop any other bad sleeping habit. This will cause havoc with your hormones, increase cravings and also cause you to over eat due to a lack of energy and focus. Whatever you do, don’t get more than 6 hours of sleep per night, or, if you must, make sure you get at least 9 or more hours as getting too much sleep can also cause you to overeat. Watching TV at night is also a great way to waste time that could otherwise be spent sleeping.

Snack or choose foods for meals according to whatever is most convenient and easy to get. Do not under any circumstances try to be organised or prepared. Just grab the easiest thing available especially if it can be ordered and delivered or you can order and pick up within 10 minutes or so. Take away food is great for piling on the kilos. Ditto for being organsied during the day with food when away from the home. Do not under any circumstances preprepare snacks and take them with you. Just be sure to grab whatever is available.

Do not undertake physical activity unless it involves taking it easy, having long rests and not overexerting yourself. Best not to do anything though just to be sure.

If you do anything physical, make sure you undo any benefits it might have had by consuming energy drinks and bars. In case you accidentally burn any calories while exercising, make sure you replace them with calorie laden flavoured drinks and snacks. Energy drinks are especially good at undoing benefits of training.

Drink alcohol as often as possible. Even a once per week binge will ensure that fat stores are laid in your body and remain there.

Have a cheat meal or day every week. If you can’t force yourself eat whatever you want for an entire day, even just one cheat meal per week will undo a lot of what you’ve achieved during the week if you forgot to make bad food choices on a daily basis.

Don’t think about what you’re eating and drinking and most definitely don’t record it. Choose solely on availability and taste. Do not think about nutrient content, protein content, calories, fats, chemical additives etc. Just shove it in in as larger quantities as possible.

Eat as much as possible of ‘diet’ products. Anything labelled ‘non fat, low fat, diet, skinny, lite, light etc’ is great in large quantities. You know you can eat extra of this to put on extra body fat at any time.

Be sure to hang around the tea or lunch room at work especially when its someone’s birthday or the boss shouts morning tea. Other great places to hang are at kids birthday parties, right next to the food table or at the buffet when out. And always make sure you have plenty of snacks on hand on your desk at work. Especially lollies, choccys and other nibbly food that’s impossible to eat just one of.

When you’re feeling bad about something, make sure you have on hand an assortment of rubbish foods to medicate yourself with. These are guaranteed to make you feel worse (and guilty) so that any thoughts of making good choices are thrown totally out the window in favour of eating even more crap